ELIZABETH CRAVEN AND HER WORLD

    When I wrote the list of Elizabeth Craven's works on this blog some time ago, I forgot to include one early poem that she wrote in response to the praise of Horace Walpole, to whom she had dedicated one of her first printed stories. The poem was printed in The  Monthly Mirror 1801, which ran a "Biographical Sketch of the Margravine of Anspach" that focussed on her poetic output.  Elizabeth Craven drawing c.1805.     To appreciate Craven's poem it is necessary to read Walpole's first. It was written in 1775.                   HORACE WALPOLE TO LADY CRAVEN                          Genius howe'er sublime, pathetic, free,                          Trusts to the press for immortality.                          To types would Craven her sweet lays prefer?                          The press would owe immortal fame to her!                          While she, too careless of so fair a face,                          Would breathe eternal youth on every grace,     

THE BEAUTIES OF ENGLAND and Wales by James Norris Brewer was first published in 1801 and gave meticulous descriptions of the most notable country seats and mansions in each county.  Benham near Newbury from the European Magazine 1808 "BENHAM HOUSE the seat of Lord Craven is about one mile west of Speen. The entrance to the park from the high road is by a gate with a handsome lodge on each side hence a spacious way through a wood leads to the open grounds where a variety of pleasing views are presented. On the south beyond the vale which is intersected by the Kennet is a fine prospect of Hampsted Marshal Park and its woody accompaniments. The grounds on this side are agreeably varied in appearance and decorated with clumps of stately trees whose deep shadows playing on the water give animation and contrast to the contiguous scenery. The high grounds on the west are crowned with extensive woods whose back ground is formed of bold projecting tracts of the Wiltshire Downs Towards the

Many thanks to Laura for this review of Anne-Marie Fauques de Vaucluse, a Tiger among the Bluestockings on her website   LifelongHistoryLover. " Born in France, around 1720, Anne-Marie Fauques de Vaucluse was a novelist, political satirist, and poet. Julia Gasper’s book   Anne-Marie Fauques de Vaucluse, a Tiger among the bluestockings   unravels the confusion surrounding the identity of this remarkable woman. As well as being a biography, the author also explores Fauques works in depth, by analysing the plots and characters in her writings, it tells us about Fauques life and the political situation at the time. I really liked this element of the book, I have not had the pleasure of reading any of Fauques work, but I may do so now! As a teenager Fauques’ father was very ill and her mother had to take over the running of the household and finances. By forcing her daughters to become nuns, there would be no dowries to pay, and they would also have to renounce their claim to the famil